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This… is completely long overdue. Finals are finally over, and it’s summer (for the next 4 months!) I’ve posted about getting some stuff from Gmarket in May 2015, and in January I thought it was fair time I restocked some of my stuff – here we go!

DR. JART+ CERAMIDIN CREAM

What it is: “A lightweight cream to moisturize the skin.”Why I purchased it: my skin was cracking and peeling and tight and just dying throughout my Differin routine; I needed something to repair my skin barrier, and I thought ceramide would do just the trick.What it cost: After discounts, about SGD28.00 / KRW23,000How it performs: A thick, thick humectant – smells just like the Ceramidin Liquid. I still prefer that one!

VERITE ULTRA MOIST SKIN INTENSE CREAM

What it is: A cream packed with ceramides and stuffWhy I purchased it: I wanted a cream with ceramides, I was looking for a Verite cushion…. the packaging was too cute cmon let’s not kid myselfWhat it cost: After discounts, about SGD35.00 / KRW29,000How it performs: I actually kind of prefer this over Dr. Jart+’s – that one is more like a balmy paste, while this one is a smooth cream that spreads over my skin

VERITE UV MULTI CUSHION LX WONDER STORY #21

What it is: A “repurchase” of my HG Verite DX cushionWhy I purchased it: I love my Verite cushion. I wore it to work, I wore it to school like every day, and it was running out – I needed a refill, and since they discontinued the DX, I had to go with the LXWhat it cost: After discounts, about SGD28.00 / KRW23,000How it performs: Cute case, but I actually haven’t opened the new LX yet!

TOSOWOONG PROPOLIS SPARKLING AMPOULE

What it is: A propolis sparkling ampoule.Why I purchased it: I needed something soothing and something that would even my skin tone, given that I’m trying to clear PIHWhat it cost: After discounts, about SGD25.00 / KRW21,000How it performs: It has a thick, gel-like texture that leaves my face supple and hydrated; however, not too sure about the long-term effects?

SAMPLES GALORE

Cute – the Verite stuff came with loooots of samples! It included a 5 Skin Care Trial Kit, a lip tint, a mini Skin Intense Cream, and a mist; the other stuff came with IOPE’s Bio-Essence mini mask, Mamonde anti-aging cream, Laneige Original Essence White Plus Renew, and a Hanyul mask; Tosowoong threw in some samples too!

I’m actually headed off to Korea in a couple of days, and I’m planning to try everythingggg there so I can take advantage of the Gmarket $5 shipping promotion when I’m back! Exciting times – I’ve never looked forward to summer this much before. Cheers!

Our free samples!!! This included a travel kit including Milky Moisturizer Hydra Balancing, Numero 10 Essence, and Creamy Cleansing Foam Moist, and samples for the Classic Essence Increment which we requested for. My aunt bought the full-sized version of this, and it was the last one… so my mum settled for samples for now (she has too many things to use now anyway!!) We also received 2 cute umbrellas, and a makeup organizer pouch!

We also received a ton of free gifts – the welcome member set included a Lumilayer Primer, Beauty Cleansing Foam, and Perfecting Last Foundation. I didn’t even take pics of the 1. Tumbler 2. Laptop Bag and 3. Lunch bag they gave us!!!

My aunt also purchased some stuff from The Face Shop – she gave us one of the free sample kits she received.

While the prices are quite amazing, I must warn you guys that the expiry dates are fairly near, with most of them expiring in mid-2016. I highly suggest against irresponsible hauling – if you’re not gonna be able to finish it by then, don’t buy it!! Or I mean like you could use it on your body, but still. Take note of the expiry dates before purchase!!!

The sale is held at Suntec City (where the 3 shops are side by side), from 27-30th August. Have fun guys!

Early last year, when I was still really new to all my beauty products, I was desperately hunting for places where I could get samples to try – I mean, skincare ain’t cheap! I didn’t even have a proper toner, sunscreen, or whatnot…

I came across the Sample Store, where they’ll send you samples to try in Singapore! They’re actually partnered with Singpost. Here’s how it works: you either pick free samples to checkout, or you pick up to 4 samples as part of a $5.99 order (or what they call a ‘handling fee’).

Pictured above:

Biore UV AQUA Rich Watery Gel (15ml)

Bioré’s Makeup Remover Cleansing Gel (20ml)

Sunplay Superblock SPF130 PA+++ (6ml)

White Formula Super Moist Toner (35ml)

White Formula Super Moist Light Toner (35ml)

My Beauty Diary Vanilla Moisturizing Aroma Mask x2 (23ml)

For instance, I’ve pictured 2 separate orders above: the two Bioré products on the left are free! While I do own the Bioré Watery Essence, and the old formula of Bioré’s Makeup Remover Cleansing Gel, I’ve never tried these new versions before – so this is a great way for me to try before I buy! 🙂 (plus, these sample sizes, 15ml and 20ml, are absolutely perfect for me to travel with!!!)

I picked Sunplay because I own the spray version, but I’ve never tried the ‘original’ – wanted to see how it compared to Bioré’s! The packaging for this sample is SO. CUTE.!!!!!! It’s basically a tiny version of the actual product, and it even includes a little ball bearing inside for you to shake it up :> I’ve yet to try this because I’ve got too many sunscreens open right now, so… yes!

I picked the White Formula Toners as I’ve heard lots of good things about them. I saw them all over the place when I was in Taiwan last year, and they’re supposedly the bestselling toners at their price range in Taiwan? If they’re somehow live up to my HG Hada Labo toners (they seem very similar!!), I’m all up for trying this!!

As for the MBD masks…. These aren’t the actual masks I received in my order 😀 Yes, I did order MBD Vanilla Masks, butttttt that was last year when I hadn’t started my foray into sheet masking yet. After using these MBD mask samples, I was like w h o a this shit is good – and then I went to buy lots more when I was in Taiwan :p

I suspect that Bioré’s samples are free because Bioré holds their own promos to send out free samples as well, so they’re naturally free. Ok but I should warn you guys that you should probably google some of the ‘paid’ samples before you order them? I noticed that Acnes samples are available FOC on the SG website, but they’re ‘paid’ on SampleStore!

As for the $5.99 order, I might be a bit auntie in this sense but I usually only pick items that are ‘worth it’. Like some of the samples are a bit ‘ehhh’… like they only include a 1x1ml foil sachet for what’s basically $1.50!?! Yes I’ve actually come across samples like this on the site before. Okay like honestly if they only want to send me 1ml I might as well go to Watsons (where most of the products available for sampling are on sale) and just squeeze >1ml onto my hand and try it on the spot for free right?? If you really want me to buy your product, I feel like you should at least provide me with enough product to sample it on my whole face…

Word of warning though: their samples (be it free or paid) run out REALLY fast!!! For you to get the samples that you’re interested in, you have to be pretty diligent in ~stalking~ their site… or waiting for their EDMs heh.

Do any of you source your samples from other sampling websites? Share them with me in the comments!

Rushed this post out today after I got home from Orchard!!! This has probably got to be some kind of record – I don’t think I’ve started on a post and published it within such a short amount of time before.

ION Orchard is hosting Beauty Season from now til 4th March 2015! This means that participating stores will be giving away a limited number of samples (every day). This is a great chance for everyone to sample the products they’ve been eyeing!

For the sake of reviewing products for this blog, I’ve set myself on a task to…. review EVERYTHING. Let me preface this – I am not encouraging hoarding products that you won’t use. All of these are brands that I (or my family) am familiar with, and am interested in trying out.

LOOK AT THIS.

To participate in Beauty Season, just log on to beauty.ionorchard.com/home on your mobile, and register with your details. From there, you’ll be able to redeem your samples at each of the stores – obviously limited to one set per person!

Select the brand that you’re interested in sampling (the images show the product you’ll be sampling), and head towards the store. The page will include the store’s location, and the exact details of the product you’ll be sampling (size/sachet etc.).

If you’re worried about unfriendly salespeople, DON’T BE WORRIED. Just suck it up and head into the stores and show them your screen, swipe to redeem your product, and they’ll hand you the sample once you fill in some details. Maybe it’s just luck (?) but every single one of the salespeople I encountered today were super friendly! In fact, most of them gave me a runthrough of how their product sample works, what it targets, and how long it will last. Super satisfying experience!

Once you have received the brand’s sample, you’re able to add a review. Adding a review and showing it to the staff will provide a discount in-store, with the exception of Sephora and Estee Lauder. Not only so, you stand a chance to win a full-sized version of the product sampled!! Ok it’s one winner per brand but you still definitely stand a chance haha 😀

Astalift was extremely generous with their samples. I’m excited to try this out, as Lunamer is a new line targeted at younger women (Astalift, if you don’t already know, is well-known for their anti-aging products).

Dr. Ci:Labo

Pictured: When you head to their store, they will invite you to like their Facebook page as well. Go ahead and do so – they’ll provide another sample kit as well, which includes an Enrich Moisture Lotion, Herbal Gel O2 Charge, and Mild UV Lotion sachets.

I have heard of their brand before, and since the latter products are targeted at sensitive skin, I can try it out on breakout days 🙂 The saleslady said that the lotion is meant for anti-aging, so my mum would probably benefit from it more than I would.

Kiehl’s

Pictured: The saleslady gave me some samples for their other products as well! This included the Purifying Foaming Cleanser, Ultra-Facial Oil-Free Toner, Clearly Corrective White Hydrating Moisture Emulsion, as well as the Actively Correcting and Beautifying BB Cream.

I’m especially excited to sample the dark-circle perfector – the saleslady said this sample should last me a week. I’m always up for trying new things to minimise my horrific panda eyes!!

The saleslady was extremely helpful and friendly 🙂

Laneige

Stepped into Laneige to check out the Multiberry Yoghurt Pack (i.e. wanted to let mum smell it.) Saw the promo for the first time :’) Laneige is a mid-high end skincare brand, so anything’s fair game for me. I recently purchased some of their anti-aging samples in Bonjour Hong Kong.

Mt. Sapola

Will use this soon 🙂 I’m not a regular user of body lotion, but my calves are especially dry and could do with some moisturizing. Mum recommended this brand.

The saleslady was extremely helpful and friendly 🙂

Next

What they’re giving away: 100 bottles of Next Hair Building Fibres (25g)

I… think this is hair roots mascara in powder form. Reminds me of Ji Sukjin and his hair powder stain on the ceiling keyboard :D. Extremely surprised at the size of this – this looks like a full-sized product already! Mum was very excited to receive this 🙂 (obviously it will not be very useful for me. whoops)

Shu Uemura

SUPER excited to use this – I think I’m the most excited to use this out of all of the samples received today. I love using cleansing oil – it’s much milder on my skin as compared to furiously rubbing my mascara off with makeup remover. Shu’s is supposedly the best in the market, and I’m excited to see how it compared to my DHC Deep Cleansing Oil.

The salesman was extremely helpful and friendly 🙂

Skin Inc

You get to pick a serum of your choice (i.e. Hyaluronic Acid, Ceramide, Vitamin A, Vitamin C, Collagen, Q1o etc.)! I’ve already tried the Q10 and it was not bad, so I picked Vitamin A to help with brightening of dark spots and whatnot. I’m already familiar with Skin Inc and quite like their products 🙂

YSL

Herworld

Also, it’s Her World’s 55th anniversary, so there was a pop-up store/bar in the atrium at ION Orchard! If you purchased this month’s copy for $5, you get a mocktail, and the samples pictured below.

Additionally, if you subscribe/extend your subscription, you get reduced rates ($55 for 12m, $89 for 24m (you save $55)), as well as a Perfect Renew Early Anti-Aging Trial Pouch ($65) from Laneige. Super deal!

I received so many samples from Curél, so I thought they deserved yet another post of their own. Curél Singapore will actually send you samples if you’re interested in trying out their products. I tried two links: here’s one, and here’s the other.

My mum first introduced me to Curél a few years ago, when she purchased a trial kit (which includes the Foaming Wash, Makeup Cleansing Gel, Moisture Face Milk, and Moisture Lotion II; the larger-sized items pictured above). Admittedly, I wasn’t really into skincare when I was 16 – I never touched the Moisture Face Milk or Moisture Lotion! Although I still have them, they’re probably headed to the trash now

What I did like was their Makeup Cleansing Gel, and the Foaming Wash. The Makeup Cleansing Gel is packaged in a squeeze-out tube, and it comes out as a clear, sticky gel. It is amazing at getting eye makeup off; usually, water based removers don’t do a lot for my eye makeup. I just end up with a smokey eye from all the remaining eyeliner/mascara. Oil-based removers? Nooooope! Those get in my eyes (or even my contacts) and leave me with blurry vision for ages! But this… this Makeup Cleansing Gel gets every bit of makeup off my face without leaving me uncomfortable. While it is amazing, it’s not HG level as micellar cleansing water is for me.

Makeup Cleansing Gel:

As for the Foaming Wash, I was in need of a new face wash after breaking up with Biore at the start of 2014. I purchased a full-sized 150ml bottle of it (mum had already finished the mini-sized 90ml one and recommended it!) and it’s lasted me almost the whole year! It thoroughly cleanses my face every day, but one issue I have with it is that I developed dry skin this year; foaming face washes are not that suitable for dry skin types. While my face feels clean after cleansing, it feels a little bit tight.

Foaming Wash: ★★★★☆(for dry combi skin types)

Sebum Care Trial Kit

What’s included:

Curel Sebum Care Moisture Gel (7ml)

Curel Sebum Care Lotion (8ml)

About 3 days after I sent in my request, I received the Sebum Care set in the mail. They were really quite generous (most samples come in foil sachets – I don’t like foil sachets) – 2 products were provided! I used them on a particularly oily day – first impression: effective! My T-zone was definitely less oily than without using the lotion and gel. I keep the gel with me in my makeup pouch, and it’s been an absolute lifesaver in dry skin emergencies!

First impression: ★★★★☆

Then… 2 weeks later, I checked the mailbox and I’d received the second sample set from them!

Face Sample Pack

What’s included:

Curél Makeup Cleansing Gel (6g)

Curél Intensive Moisture Cream (4g)

Curél Moisture Eye Zone Essence (2.6g)

Curél Moisture Lotion III Enrich (8ml)

Curél Moisture Lotion II (8ml)

Curél Moisture Face Milk (8ml)

That’s 6 products for me to try!

I’ve been interested in finding the right eye cream/essence to help with my panda eyes, so sampling Curél’s is a must-do for now! Also, one thing I noticed – there are two different kinds of lotions, II and III Enrich. Basically, the only difference is that:

After trying their products, it’s quite clear that their products aren’t gimmicky or anything – their products are effective due to the ceramide in them. From Curél:

“Ceramides are natural lipids and are a major component in surface skin structure. They serve as part of the “glue” that holds surface skin cells together. Dry, irritated, and sensitive skin often lacks ceramides. As a result, skin’s protective barrier is compromised and becomes more susceptible to environmental factors, changes of season, and other irritants.”

While it is true that Ceramide is an effective moisturizer, I’ve read that the skin lacks Ceramide in winter, and hence is more effective in winter weather, while Hyaluronic Acid is more effective in the summer? I will do some research on this soon.

Curél’s products are extremely gentle, and suitable for sensitive skin – so I’ve been recommending it to all my friends with sensitive skin 🙂 However, I’ve got pretty hardy skin, and am hunting for stronger products – for now, I’ll probably look elsewhere for acids instead! (although I must admit, I am re-considering re-purchasing the foaming facial wash after the Hada Labo was a mild disappointment. will update soon)

Lifestyle | Beauty | Food

I'm Allison, and I run milliefeuille, a Singapore beauty and lifestyle blog. I love reviewing the latest and most effective Asian (and the occasional Western) skincare and beauty products, so follow me on my quest to get the best skin possible! :)